Wheel assemblies that utilize wheel appliqués to decorate the external or outboard surfaces of plain steel wheels are well known and are far less expensive to produce than decorative wheels that have to be formed and finished.
Wheel appliqués can be secured to wheels by various mechanical engaging structures and/or by adhesives. U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,845 to Maloney et al. discloses a vehicle wheel cover retention system in which the annular lip of the wheel cover is configured to spring outwardly into a groove provided in the inner surface of the wheel. U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,423 to Heck et al. discloses a vehicle wheel cover retention system in which the outer end of the wheel cover is deformed to cover the outer peripheral end of the outboard bead seat retaining flange of the wheel. Both U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,845 to Maloney et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,423 to Heck et al. utilize an adhesive in cooperation with their respective mechanical engaging structures.
Many wheel assemblies include decorative wheel covers that are adhesively attached to underlying wheels. U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,501 to Derleth discloses the use of a foamable adhesive that is used to secure a decorative cover to a wheel. The decorative cover in Derleth is configured to have variations in contour in a direction transverse to the axis of the wheel which exceed the variations in the rim and/or disc contour of the wheel, which variations would be extremely difficult and expensive, if not impossible, to stamp or draw in the disc of the wheel. During assembly, a foamable adhesive is coated on the wheel, and the decorative cover is then quickly clamped to the wheel before the adhesive begins to foam. As the adhesive foams, void spaces between the wheel and cover are filled with the foamable adhesive.
Turbine openings which can be decoratively designed are a necessary element in today's wheel systems in providing proper cooling to brake systems. In addition the aesthetics of endless configurations of turbine openings add individuality and style to a vehicle wheels. The inclusion of turbine openings in wheels and wheel covers creates problems with the use of adhesives. In order to use foamable adhesives, it would be necessary to use some additional structure to seal large openings such as turbine openings to prevent the foamable adhesive from escaping through the openings rather than spread evenly or completely between a wheel and wheel cover.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,368,370 and 5,461,779 to Beam disclose an ornamental appliqué formed on a uniform thickness of stainless steel sheet stock that requires attachment to the wheel by the use of a full surface curable adhesive uniformly deposited between the stainless steel cover and a mechanical locking arrangement. The mechanical locking arrangement consists of an undercut in the rim of the wheel into which the cover nests and a hole in the wheel aligned with a hole in the appliqué wherein a lug stud is permanently attached to create a mechanical lock that, according to Beam's teachings, compresses the full surface uniform layer of curable adhesive to hold the appliqué in place until the adhesive cures.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,346,159 to Chase et al. discloses a process for attaching overlays (appliqués or covers) to wheels in which the overlays and wheels are positioned together on fixtures to form wheel/overlay assemblies that are transferred to a heating station and then to a filling station at which a foamable adhesive is injected into mold cavities that are defined between the overlays and wheels. The process of Chase et al. utilizes the latent heat of the wheel/overlay assemblies to cause the foamable adhesive to cure.
A disadvantage of the process of Chase et al. is that, since Chase et al. relies upon the latent heat of the wheel/overlay assemblies (from the heating station), it is necessary to include a check station in which the temperature of the wheel/overlay assemblies is monitored. And if the wheel/overlay assemblies are not properly heated to a proper temperature, they are re-routed back to the heating station. This manner of operation is susceptible to complications especially when problems occur at the filling station, causing delays in the transfer of the heating wheel/overlay assemblies. In addition, since Chase et al. holds the wheel/overlay assemblies together at the filling station until the injected foamable adhesive has cured, bottle-necking of the overall process can occur at the filling station, especially when the latent heat is marginal and curing takes a longer time.
The present invention provides for a method for adhesively securing decorative wheel covers to wheels using a foamable adhesive.